Sole for boots or shoes



' (No Model.)

F. W. MUNROE. 0LE FOR BOOTS 0R SHOES. .No. 379,023. Patented Mar. 6, 1888.

I LEI-' W' H 5 JELTDFV g agh ATT'Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK W. MUNROE, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS.

SOLE FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,023, dated March 6, 1888.

Application filed January 13, 1888. Serial No. 260,600.

(No model.)

. said invention appertains to make and use the ward in forming the shank z.

same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevationof a sole of this class, showing the heel attached in the ordinary manner; Fig. 2, a side elevation of my improved sole; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the heel portion of myimproved sole, showing a moditication of the invention; Fig. 4, a side elevation of the heel portion of the sole proper with the lifts of the heel removed, and Fig. 5 an isometrical perspective view of the part shown in Fig. 4 enlarged.

Like letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

My invention relates more especially to that class of soles for boots or shoes in which the sole proper is extended to form the outer or cap lift of the heel; and it consists in certain novel features, as hereinafter fully set forth and claimed, the object being to produce a simpler, cheaper,and more desirable article of this char,- acter than is now in ordinary use.

The nature and operation of the improvement will be readily understood by all conversant with such mattersfrom the following explanation:

In the drawings, A represents the sole proper, and B the heel, considered as an entirety.

The sole proper, A, is of the usual shape in outline and may be of any desired size.

As ordinarily constructed, the inner lifts of the heel B are secured to the upper side of the heel portion 70 of the sole, their forward ends being beveled, as shown at x in Fig. 1, to enable the sole to be readily bent or curved up- The innermost lift, 1;, of the heel is slightly extended beyond or in front of the others and fastened to the upper side of the shank z, as shown at I). When thelifts are cham fered or beveled, as described,

the bearing-surface of the heel is greatly reduced, and being rounded at its forward end the rear portion of the heel is thrown outward by use, thereby causing the shank z to sag or be pulled downward and injuring the shape of the shoe. To overcome this difficulty is one object of my invention, in carrying out which I slit or cut the sole prop'er laterally and longitudinally on its inner face at the rear end of the shank 2, as shown at t, to form a lip, f. (See Figs. 4 and 5.)

A transverse V-shaped groove, m, is cut in the inner face of the sole proper a short distance from the slit t, or in accordance with the thickness of the heel, to enable said sole to be bent at right angles, or nearly, so at the forward end of the bottom of the heel,as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The forward ends of the lifts d are cut square or vertical, said lifts being secured to the heel portion of the solein the usual manner, and said sole bent vertically upward against their inner ends, the groove at being closed when the sole is bent around the heel, as described. Thelipfof the slit t is inserted between the innermost lift, 1), and the forward end of the next lift, d, and is secured by nailing or gluing it to said lifts.

The groove m and slit t not only enable the heel to be constructed more symmetrically, but by securing the lipf to the adjacent lifts, as described, the shank z is rendered much stiffer and the heel kept in position much bet ter than when the sole and heel are constructed in the ordinary manner, or as shown in Fig. 1.

In the modification shown in Fig. 8 the inner lift, '0, is extended at 3 over the shank portion z, to which it is secured, thus greatly strengthening said shank. The slit t not only serves to receive the forward end of one of the inner lifts of the heel, but enables the sole to be bent readily at the rear end of the shank around the upper portion of the forward end of the heel, while the lip f serves to keep the sole in proper position at this point.

Having thus explained my invention, what I claim is l. The sole proper,A, provided with the slit t and groove m, said sole being extended rearward of said groove to form the cap-lift 7c of the heel, substantially as described.

2. In a boot or shoe sole, the sole proper,A,

provided with the groove m, slit 1, and portion 7.1, in combination with the lifts d and o, the for ward end of one of the 1ifts,d,being inserted in said slit, and the forward end of the lift 1) 5 overlapping the lipf, said sole and lifts being groove m, slit t, lip f, and extended portion k, in combination with a heel secured to said sole, to substantially as described.

FREDERICK WV. MUNROE.

tially as set forth.

3. The sole proper, A, provided with the O. M. SHAW, 

